Utes and pick ups

[PaulC]

Here's a link about the first ute ever built.
http://www.fastlane.com.au/Features/First_ute.htm

Have a read and weep all you guys over there who thought it was your idea
And here's a pic from the original brochure

That should make you Happy, Gage
Cheers
Paul

[Podunkfla]

Sheesh... can you imagine what one of those first '34's is worth today!

[Podunkfla]

Wow... That looks a lot like the cool Cadzilla custom a guy from the ZZ Topp band did a while back... I think George Barris built it. Or maybe some of the wild 48 Mercury rods some have built... Dang cool car!

[PaulC]

Brick, that car is based on the first car that GM Holden built over here.
The FJ Holden
Cheers
Paul

[asianflava]

Moved this post from the other thread:

I like this ute. Nothing like taking a $50,000 car (used price) and turning it into a pickup truck. Doesn't look like this is a hack job either. There was a lot of fab work involved into making a BMW "El Camino" This guy is either hardcore or has more dollars than sense.

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/12/bm ... -chop.html

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictu ... lbumInvite

This is a photoshop of what the final product will look like.

[asianflava]

I know they built some pretty wild Holdens and others after the war...

Holden still makes some killer utes. This one is based on the Holden Commodore AKA Pontiac GTO. The one with the Corvette engine.

[PaulC]

Here's a pic of my Ute, complete with TD, out on the Willochra Plain with the Flinders ranges in the background.

Cheers
Paul

[rainjer]

If you attend the LeMay's teardrop gathering in Tacoma, WA, you can see one up close. The body was made by Holden on this one also.

[asianflava]

Here's a pic of my Ute, complete with TD, out on the Willochra Plain with the Flinders ranges in the background.

Cheers
Paul

Is Ute a generic term for truck? I thought it meant a car based truck, like an El Camino or Ranchero.

[PaulC]

Rocky, In the truest sense mine is a truck/pick up, as it is not a modified version of a sedan. Over here, anything configured as mine is, is referred to as a ute. I guess it's one of those language thingies
Cheers
Paul

[Laredo]

Ah, beauty!!

The best thing in life is being able to pick out your own vehicle, and pay for it.

[Nitetimes]

I still don't understand the appeal of these things. Everyone is making them and they seem to sell but they seem to me to be a pretty useless vehicle. The bed's short enough to be basically worthless and you don't have the inside dry storage you get in a normal SUV. Seems to me if you want an SUV buy one, if you want a truck buy one of those, they make em 4 door too now.
Now a Ranchero/El Camino type vehicle, that's a horse of a different color. Still basically useless but fun to drive anyway and they look cool.
So what is their true purpose?

[PaulC]

Rich, I must say you are looking very suave at the moment.

To answer your question, based on my needs, I have a paving and Landscaping business, this truck is rated at 1tonne capacity. Our Federal Govt. allows full claim on this type of unit for business use. As you can see, I was on my way to a quote in the middle of Australia and needed to take the TD because of the limited accomodation available over the Christmas/New Year period.
Cheers
Paul

[Nitetimes]

Used to have a landscape business. If you're landscaping what's in that pic I really feel for ya!
Don't younse just mow the weeds and whatever else grows like they do down south over here?
Glad I got out of that years ago. Every body and their brother with a pickup or a small dump are landscapers around here since the mills all shut down.
Used to be a good profitable business, now it's too cut throat.

[PaulC]

Ric, 25 years in the business. I guess I'm too silly to know when to get out

Cheers
Paul